Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat, has weathered economic and political uncertainty both at home and throughout the wider Middle Eastern region, and is now back on a path to growth, with its aviation holdings being at the forefront of this turnaround.
Bahrain's central bank has steered the country's banking sector through a period of economic and political turbulence. With strong fundamentals and ample growth prospects, particularly in the Islamic finance segment, the country's lenders are now in a good position, but their future growth still hinges on the country maintaining social stability.
Year upon year, the Islamic finance industry posts stellar growth figures. However, as large Western lenders withdraw from the sector, is Islamic finance in as healthy a shape as the figures suggest? The Banker asks a number of experts in the field what the future holds for sharia-compliant banking.
The steady growth of sharia-compliant assets suggests banks believe in the future of the sector, but the dismantling of the largest cross-border Islamic window raises questions about whether global banking groups can make a success of the business.
Arab banks offset the turmoil of the Arab Spring and offered a robust performance in 2011 with impressive growth across the key financial indicators. And with minimal exposure to the eurozone crisis, the region's banks are expected to continue their recovery from the global financial crisis.
Bahrain has had to deal with its fair share of problems on the back of the global economic downturn, but a sound regulatory and supervisory structure and deft handling of the crisis by the central bank has ensured it will emerge as a stronger, more confident nation as a result. Writer Charlie Corbett
The Gulf Co-operation Council countries have suffered as a result of the global economic downturn. Bank profits are down and there have even been some bank failures. But there is also plenty to be upbeat about, with some regions bucking the downward trend. Writer Michael Imeson